Thursday, November 17, 2011

Food Allergies? Sure, Why Not

The latest saga in the never ending medical drama "Aaron's Anatomy" is all about food allergies. As if having Celiac disease and being lactose intolerant weren't enough, for the past two + months we have been trying to figure out why Aaron has been getting sick every week or so.

We have come to the conclusion that a soy allergy/intolerance is to blame. Every time he drinks soy milk (which was the only thing he could drink other than water since he can't have regular milk) or eats anything with soy in it, he either vomits or screams with unbearable stomach pain.

Of course, similar to gluten, EVERYTHING has soy in it. Even half of the gluten free food we (used to) buy is made with soy flour, soy lecithin or some other derivitive of soy. So, Aaron's diet now consists of fruit, Chex cereal and the two kinds of gluten free crackers I have found that don't contain soy. Not exactly well balanced. He refuses to eat meat and most vegetables(although last night he ate chicken and broccoli - it was a miracle - and probably a one time thing) and won't take any of the dozens of vitamins I have tried to give him.

I am pretty much beside myself with stress about what the heck I am supposed to feed him now. To make it worse, he's three, very picky and doesn't understand why he can't eat what everyone else is eating. And putting the rest of the family on a gluten free, soy free, dairy free diet isn't exactly practical.

To add to the apparent entertainment of the medical ailment gods, we are going through allergy testing now and his test today showed that he may be allergic to peanuts and corn. WHAT THE H*!? It's not definite yet, so all I can do is pray that today's result was wrong. He doesn't like peanut butter anyway, so that one doesn't stress me out quite as much, but corn?!?! His grains were already limited to rice, potatoes and corn and if you take away corn - I really don't even want to think about it.

Alright, I'm done whining and complaining now. I will deal with it, just like I deal with everything else that gets thrown at us. But sometimes I just want to say - enough already!

About Me

Wife and mother to two little boys. Writer for About.com and a Pediatric Nurse. Busy doesn't even begin to describe my life. Having a son with special needs has changed everything about me and I'm learning more every day. Trying to find our way in a world that doesn't really understand what it is like to have a "disability". We're just loving our way through this life with our youngest son who has Down Syndrome, Celiac Disease and Asthma and his big brother who helps him every step of the way.